Crohsn and OCD

[Sha0913]

I don't take any med's but I ever since I was diagnosed with Crohns at 11 have acquired a horrid case of OCD, especially when I'm flaring. Everything has to be where it belongs, I organize and organize, resituate things and constantly walk behind my husband and children cleaning. When I'm not flaring I'm nowhere as bad. I had a cold last week and it set off a small flare and i didn't really say anything to my husband about it bc I thought it would pass and no need to bother him. But yesterday I was doing my crazy lady cleaning and straightening and he said, "you're not feeling well are you?" So it pretty obvious with me. Also I said something to my doctor about this a long time ago and he said it probably relates to my Crohns because I can't control my disease so I have to have something to control. Does anyone else have this or get like this?

 

[bobtheman]

im a young male and i was actually like this before i was diagnosed and started having problems. ever since ive been ive learn to let a lot more things slide and just say whatever to a lot of things that i did out of compulsions

 

[Rebecca85]

Having a chronic illness, especially if you have chronic pain, lowers serotonin levels. OCD is associated with low serotonin levels, and medications which raise serotonin can be used to treat OCD. So it does make sense that your OCD is worse when you are flaring. I have a phobia, which comes under the same umbrella of 'anxiety disorder', and now you mention it, it did get worse when my Crohn's flared up. But I didn't think much of it, since my phobia is of vomiting! Thankfully, the fluoxetine I have been prescribed for chronic fatigue (another 'symptom' of low serotonin) is also helping with the phobia. I put some information about serotonin on our wiki www.crohnsforum.com/wiki/serotonin

 

[Sha0913]

Thanks Rebecca

 

[Jennifer]

It is possible to help OCD without medication such as retraining your brain by saying things like, "it's not real etc." There was a study done it back in the early 2000's and people who went under the retraining of the brain "training" had the same beneficial results as those who were on medication.

As to what your doctor said, it reminds me of those who suffer from eating disorders as their lives can be out of control so they find another way to control their lives via what they eat/don't eat or purging. So yes it may be that way that you want some control in your life. How about managing the disease? That can be controlled. Not that cleaning is a bad thing but when it becomes an obsession then ya, you may want to seek help for OCD whether its through medication or retraining your own brain into thinking that its clean enough or there's more important things to do etc.

 

[Lee]

I can't say for sure if I clean or organize more when I'm flaring because I've only had two flares and got diagnosed on the 2nd one--the flares were 4 years apart and all I can remember from the 1st one is that it wasn't half as bad as the 2nd one.

I did clean and organize a lot on the 2nd one I think because I was home and had nothing else to do when my son was at school.

 

[ekay03]

Wow. OCD i got that too!! and I take Zoloft for that. I am a chronic cleaner

 

[spcwife23]

I dont have OCD, but when I flare I do clean the house everyday. I guess in my brain it's me getting ready just in case I go to the hospital.. But it's funny because I won't stop cleaning until the my pain is about a 3.. Right now I'm still kinda flaring so the pass 3 weeks I have been cleaning everyday. I bathe the baby 4 times a day because I feel he's dirty and need cleaning for some reason.

 

[ekay03]

spcwife23, you don't really bathe the baby 4 times a day. do you?
poor little baby.Lol, maybe ypou do have a touch of the ocd!

 

[spcwife23]

I wish I was kidding but yeah we both take 4 showers a day..but that's only when I flare. Regularly he will only take 2 one before school, one when he gets home for night time to go sleep.. Today I tried not to do it but yeah didn't really work I just keep thinkin he was dirty and needed the shower.. It's so bad I make the teacher at school wipe him down fully haha to be honest now I'm reading this I feel really bad.

 

[ekay03]

spcwife23 I am not a doctor, but if i were I would diagnose you w/ mild ocd.
Off the ocd subject i have read that childhood cleanliness may not be in the best interest of us humans
The hygiene hypothesis for Crohn's disease
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/

 

[Sha0913]

I definitely feel you with the shower/bath thing. I take one up to 4 times a day, I have to get one when I wake, one when I get home to change out of work clothes, and atleast one more before bed. I can't change clothes without showering, I feel like I'm transferring dirtyness from one outfit to another. And I definitely can't go to sleep without geeting a shower or bath. I thought I was the only one. Now I don't feel so bad.